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Monday, February 29, 2016

Imogene was forced to live with her aunt after her parents leave, promising to return when she turns ten. But the birthday passes, and Imogene receives no news. Then one day, her pendant begins pointing her to the sea, and as she plunges in the water and swims to her destiny, she comes to realize she is in fact a mermaid. A princess! And her parents hid her because her evil uncle wants the throne and will stop at nothing to get it.

Schapansky used easy vocabulary for middle-graders to understand, but gave us a witty and smart ten-year-old in the process. Imogene acted mature for her age, making wise decisions that helped the kingdom in great ways. It was interesting to see the concept of day and night under the sea as well as funny little details such as volcano rocks to cook food.

Monday, February 15, 2016

For as long as she could remember, Liz has always felt comfortable in boys clothes. She loved baseball, and videogames, even comic books excited her more than fashion magazines. Of course, her classmates bullied her. They ignored her, called her names or just simply referred to her as a boy. But Liz was a tomboy. And why is that so wrong? Why are girls and boys stuck with labels placed on by society?

If there's anything that this memoir proves, is that Liz was just like any normal human girl. She had feelings, went through fun times and quarrels with friends, crushes... and was wrongfully judged for all the wrong reasons (Liz was a great friend, always being there for them, including Phyllis and her rebellious teen phase).

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Falling into routine is a slow death. This book illustrates several ways girls can alter their hairstyles and be fashionable. If you want to profit this tutorials to the max. I advise you have some dry shampoo, sea salt spray, volume powder (Got2B makes an excellent one) elastics, hair accesories, hair chalk, and if possible, an extra pair of hands.

Even though, the pictures were of excellent quality (large, taking over the whole page), styling your head is not as simple as it looks. Except for braids, the hair dos simply came with written instructions.

Like: Remove a lock of hair from a tied ponytail. But how -- the whole thing falls apart when I do? Also, how am I supposed to keep the little fly airs from going wild?

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Anyone can betray you, becomes a warning to hold on tight in this new YA fantasy series.

In Mare's world, citizens not only bleed red or silver, but the color of their blood affects their reign as well as magical powers. Red's are considered worthless. But when Mare is given the chance to work at the palace and discovers her magical gift to control lightning everything changes. She's immediately betrothed to prince Maven, and plans are set in motion for her to become a Red Queen. But why are they so keen on keeping her at all? Can Mare really stop the Reds from rebelling against the royals?

Aveyard added a lot of tension and quickly turned this fantasy into a thriller. We had a group of rebels that helped carry the story along, as characters were divided by right and wrong. Although I did enjoy the love triangle between Mare and the princes, I found the action and magical abilities of some (like Queen Elara) to be even more entrancing.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Paige was forced to relocate from Virginia to New York with her mom. She doesn't know anyone, and spends most of her time talking to museum paintings and drawing in her notebook. Her art is gorgeous, but she is so afraid to share it. Until she meets some new friends that inspire her to be free.

The Graphics kept me turning the pages, as the author found clever ways to put text everywhere. It really felt like I was staring at a piece of art and not a book. Particularly, because the story dragged as Paige dealt with her insecurities. Just when I thought she was moving on, she would shield herself back into her cocoon.

Some similarities with Plain Janes, although, I must say the drawings in this one really take the cake.